Ghoulian

He dressed up in his best khaki, suit and ting but we still weren’t that impressed. “What You Got” is based on the 1977 song “Uptown Top Ranking” which reached #1 for Althia and Donna. The Abs track reached #4 in August 2002 and was the 1st of his 3 solo Top 10 hits. 7th: Abs - What You Got 12/31 votes (39%) 8th: N Dubz - I Need You 11/28 votes (39%) 9th: 50 Cent - Just A Lil’ Bit 10/31 votes (32%) 10th: Ronan Keating - I Hope You Dance 14/27 votes (52%)

Might be on my own for now but went for “Emotion”. The original doesn’t do a lot for me in the first place and this even less - a shame this put an end to their run of great singles. Geraldine is kind of fun.

1st to be booted out of the Survivor jungle is Peter Andre. In conjunction with his stint on the ITV show Chris Moyles pushed for “Mysterious Girl”, which had only previously been a #2 hit to be given a re-release. It reached #1 in March 2004. Following that “Insania”, supposedly composed while he was on the show, reached #3 in June. 10th: Peter Andre - Insania 13/33 (39%)

Seems slightly odd to rule out “Love Me Not” which is currently in pole position, though I realise it would need to avoid ACR while “Ordinary” succumbs.

The top 3 here are all great records, but “No-One Knows” wins for its timeless brilliance. 9 Queens Of The Stone Age No One Knows Their highest peak: this is wonderful from the urgent stomping accompaniment to the dark lyrics and wailing vocals 8 Yeah Yeah Yeahs Machine 1st hit for this US band: I love the gritty, assertive style and the accompaniment is like a relentless whirring machine 8 Missy Elliott Work It I love the backwards parts in the chorus and the assertive, old school feel to this: the whole track oozes style and flair 7 Moby In This World Another of his hits built on a very well chosen religious chant style hook: "Lord Don't Leave Me" by The Davis Sisters 7 Xzibit Multiply Xzibit only has 3 hits and this one was small, but it's a really well produced and catchy hip hop track with Nate Dogg 6 Dannii Minogue Put The Needle On It Her 1st solo hit in ages: while I don't think it develops as much as it could I admire her for this hard edged dance track 6 Shania Twain I'm Gonna Getcha Good The lead single from "Up!": hard to follow such an enormous era and I think this is a very nice effort with cute lyrics 5 Phil Collins Can't Stop Loving You A cover of a song by William Nichols giving him his last solo Top 40: the style suits him and he performs it very well 4 Britney Spears I Love Rock 'N' Roll Well it is the 5th single of the campaign so maybe a lazy cover is forgivable: she does do a decent performance of it 4 BBMak Out Of My Heart Their last hit and a huge underperformance from a lead single: I actually think this is quite nice though unremarkable 3 Sophie Ellis-Bextor Music Gets The Best Of Me I know it's a 4th single but this is where she went off the boil and never quite came back for me: just quite lightweight 3 Darren Hayes I Miss You His 3rd hit and he's gone back down the soppy ballad route: he does deliver this sincerely but it isn't really my thing 2 H And Claire All Out Of Love/Beauty And The Beast Like with Steps their last hit includes a twee showtune cover, while the 1st side seems to be a poor "One For Sorrow" 2 Westlife Unbreakable 939th #1 and their 11th from their 1st greatest hits album: very much the standard formula with nothing distinctive 2002 Week 47: #1593 23/11/2002 Christina Aguilera Featuring Redman Dirrty 1 {1}-1-3-6-10-19-32-45-60->9 #1594 23/11/2002 Blazin' Squad Love On The Line 6 {6}-13-23-29-39-44-36-37-51-54-60-38-70->13 #1595 23/11/2002 Sugababes Stronger/Angels With Dirty Faces 7 {7}-9-13-18-25-30-27-31-38-50-62-69-63->13 #1596 23/11/2002 Kylie Minogue Come Into My World 8 {8}-22-35-40-46-56-45-46-57-73->10 #1597 23/11/2002 Coldplay The Scientist 10 {10}-25-32-38-45-49-60-67-65->9 #1598 23/11/2002 Ashanti Happy 13 {13}-24-29-36-43-57-49-56->8 #1599 23/11/2002 Santana Featuring Michelle Branch The Game Of Love 16 {16}-28-36-43-59-73-70-62->8 #1600 23/11/2002 Shakira Objection (Tango) 17 {17}-30-34-41-48-52-47-54->8 #1601 23/11/2002 Shy FX And T Power Featuring Di And Skibadee Don't Wanna Know 19 {19}-34-43-58->4 #1602 23/11/2002 Tenacious D Wonderboy 34 {34}-59->2 #1603 23/11/2002 Rammstein Feuer Frei 35 {35}-60->2 #1604 23/11/2002 De Nuit All That Mattered (Love You Down) 38 {38}-61->2

I think I’d probably put Jemini slightly higher just because the song itself is a bit of a bop, though I agree everything else is dire. And Josh Dubovie would probably have been my bottom though I agree Englebert is the most obviously terrible artist choice.

1 Vintage Culture 2 Max Dean 3 Mau P

1 Grace Davies - I’m becoming quite the fan from what I’ve heard! 2 Sam Ryder - think this is a strong return from him but his time in the sun may be up 3 Reneé Rapp - this isn’t quite clicking for me yet but maybe it will

“Hard Rock Hallelujah” is surely the biggest and best remembered, in the context of the competition anyway.

Well happy for “Ordinary” to stay #1 if this pale imitation of “Hey Brother” is the alternative oops!

Have changed my groups guesses round based on some of these replies. 😆

Would have been a lot tougher certainly

Note these are purely my guesses (other than what I’ve seen confirmed in the threads). Could all be wrong!

My guesses with spoiler tags. I haven’t read through all the threads so may have missed some admissions. Solo females Ellie - awardinary Sasami - jimwatts Addison - Jade (confirmed) Avril - Scene (confirmed) Louise - Jay (confirmed) Christina - Addy Mary J - vibe (confirmed) Rina - Mangø Solo males Charlie - HarryGarfield Damiano - Calum (confirmed) Elton - spiceboy Enrique - Tafty (confirmed) Bob - DJ Cheeky Magpie Tom Aspaul - Lukuzz Lemon Demon - seven James Blake - Brer Groups Chvrches - Ansel Fifth Harmony - Jack Walk The Moon - Herbs The Saturdays - JosephBoone Pet Shop Boys - King Rollo Enhypen - AllSarBySmashMouth A-ha - Bjork YVA - Last Dreamer

A rather poor week here though I do like the 2 new entries in the Top 3 in different ways. The Pearl Jam track was written after a tragedy at one of their gigs in 2000, and is a lovely poignant composition. 8 Pearl Jam I Am Mine Their last hit to date: a really lovely warm track with strong lyrics about self reassurance and a gentle dance like feel 7 DJ Sammy And Yanou Featuring Do Heaven 938th #1 and 1st hit for this Spanish DJ: dance covers often take the sparkle out of a track but this one adds sparkle 7 Madonna Die Another Day The theme to the Bond film: surprisingly experimental and electronic with heavy auto-tune, but a well produced track 6 McAlmont And Butler Bring It Back Their last hit with the usual rich production and smooth soulful vocals: brings a smile to the face but isn't remarkable 5 Romeo Featuring Christina Milian It's All Gravy His 2nd and last hit, and after the dreadful 1st this is surprisingly enjoyable, with a strong chorus and piano backing 4 Amerie Featuring Ludacris Why Don't We Fall In Love 1st hit for this US RnB singer: not very compelling compared to what she'll have to come but I really like the vocals 4 Shaggy Hey Sexy Lady His last big hit: I quite like the Latin feel, the trumpets and the intense beat, but overall there isn't a whole lot to it 3 Jan Wayne Because The Night 1st hit for this German producer: I'll stick with the gorgeous original but this does at least retain some of its charm 3 Craig David What's Your Flava? His 2nd album lead and a let down as it only matched the peak of his previous 5th single: it's style over substance 2 Whitney Houston Whatchulookinat Her last hit for 7 years, produced by Bobby Brown and aimed at her critics, but the song doesn't have much of a tune 2 Mad'house Holiday Exactly the same formula as the "Like A Prayer" cover with the tinny beat; unsurprisingly we won't see them again 1 Soda Club Featuring Hannah Alethea Take My Breath Away Another dance cover of an '80s classic: you don't even need to hear it to know that it will sound naff and emotionless 1 Tom Jones Tom Jones International His last solo Top 40 with a nursery rhyme style chorus and lines like "5, 6, better lock up your chicks": dreadful song 2002 Week 46: #1579 16/11/2002 Westlife Unbreakable 1 {1}-4-10-17-27-38-37-37-43-59-70-67R(2)-44-46-26-72->16 #1580 16/11/2002 Shania Twain I'm Gonna Getcha Good 4 {4}-9-11-19-23-31-29-33-36-45-41-47-74-50-69->15 #1581 16/11/2002 Missy Elliott Work It 6 {6}-14-21-27-33-40-47-43-51->9 #1582 16/11/2002 Dannii Minogue Put The Needle On It 7 {7}-20-33-44-55-64-62-48-41-61-75->11 #1583 16/11/2002 H And Claire All Out Of Love/Beauty And The Beast 10 {10}-22-37-51-67-71R(2)-58-53->8 #1584 16/11/2002 Britney Spears I Love Rock 'N' Roll 13 {13}-21-31-40-44-52-68-75R(2)->8 #1585 16/11/2002 Sophie Ellis-Bextor Music Gets The Best Of Me 14 {14}-26-41-60-65-66-55-55-64-70->10 #1586 16/11/2002 Queens Of The Stone Age No One Knows 15 {15}-27-39-54-62-62-69->7 #1587 16/11/2002 Darren Hayes I Miss You 20 {20}-29-44-63-63R(4)->5 #1588 16/11/2002 Phil Collins Can't Stop Loving You 28 {28}-54->2 #1589 16/11/2002 Moby In This World 35 {35}-60->2 #1590 16/11/2002 BBMak Out Of My Heart 36 {36}-70->2 #1591 16/11/2002 Yeah Yeah Yeahs Machine 37 {37}-67->2 #1592 16/11/2002 Xzibit Multiply 39 {39}-61->2

I get 147k for “Undressed” so that should easily make it too. 95-98 are: We Can’t Be Friends Chasing Cars Don’t Stop Me Now The Scientist Feels like any of them could go or not.

I searched all over Facebook but I couldn’t find any tickets for Dappy’s next tour. “I Need You” reached #5 in November 2009 and remained the biggest hit as lead artist for this hip hop trio from Camden. However they did feature on the suitably titled chart topping “Number One” with Tinchy Stryder. 8th: N Dubz - I Need You 11/28 votes (39%) 9th: 50 Cent - Just A Lil’ Bit 10/31 votes (32%) 10th: Ronan Keating - I Hope You Dance 14/27 votes (52%)

Moving to Lily now - this was a fun song but I’d sooner listen to the others

Hopefully they won’t be too heartbroken after making the top half. Both DJ T2 and singer Jodie Aysha are from Leeds, and this was their only Top 40 hit. The single spent 3 weeks at #2 at the end of 2008, but reached this list on the strength of its 2008 sales. 5th: T2 featuring Jodie Aysha - Heartbroken 14/28 votes (50%) 6th: Avril Lavigne - Don’t Tell Me 15/33 votes (45%) 7th: Eminem - When I’m Gone 8/30 votes (27%) 8th: Stereophonics - Handbags & Gladrags 10/31 votes (32%) 9th: Puff Daddy featuring R. Kelly - Satisfy You 27/29 votes (93%) 10th: Cliff Richard - Santa’s List 18/30 votes (60%)

I can only apologise for this list. Doo doo doo doo…

1 Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind 2 The Saturdays - Ego 3 A-ha - Cry Wolf 4 CHVRCHES - Clearest Blue 5 WALK THE MOON - Jenny 6 Fifth Harmony - That’s My Girl 7 ENHYPEN - Brought the Heat Back 8 YVA - Grožio Fabrikas

1 James Blake - Retrograde 2 Bob Dylan - Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right 3 Elton John - Crocodile Rock 4 Lemon Demon - Two Trucks 5 Damiano David - Zombie Lady 6 Tom Aspaul - Kiss It 7 Enrique Iglesias - Bailamos 8 Charlie Puth - Light Switch

1 Christina Aguilera - Genie In a Bottle 2 Mary J. Blige - Be Without You 3 SASAMI - Honeycrash 4 Addison Rae - Aquamarine 5 Rina Sawayama - This Hell 6 Avril Lavigne - Nobody’s Home 7 Ellie Goulding - Burn 8 Louise - Borderline

Looks to me like excluding Ukraine and Israel would have increased their televoting haul from 2 to… 3. Iceland who gave them their 2 didn’t point Ukraine anyway and nobody had them 11th or 12th as far as I can see. In fact most had them towards the bottom. This was very much one that went down a storm in the Euroclub and with the fans but didn’t stand out in the show for casual viewers. Even the gay guys I was watching with didn’t rate it, whereas they loved Malta and the drama around that entry.